In 2000 the parent of one of the patients, Mrs Joy Rosario, was approached by IPOPI to set up a patient organisation with IPOPI seed funding in South Africa, other attempts having failed through lack of support.

PiNSA was duly constituted at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town in 2001. A small committee was formed, the name decided and a constitution agreed upon. It was decided that there would be three branches to the association alongside the main committee; one in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, one in Cape Town, Western Cape and one in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

The association existed for many years as an information and support group, mainly through the website (latterly thanks to sponsorship from Tristar) and telephonic counselling. In 2006 Dr Monika Esser lent her support to PiNSA and became the Medical Advisory Panel doctor. In 2008 funding was provided by the Binding Site for a secretary. Regular newsletters, an updated membership list and patient meetings in the Western Cape were the outcome. Around the same time the national South African PID registry was set up by Dr Esser. In 2009 the Jeffery Modell Foundation, through their organisation WIN, made a donation to PiNSA although this was conditional on it not being used for transport claims.

In December 2010 the call went out to interested patient/parents on the membership list to act on the national committee and the outcome was a meeting funded by IPOPI at which a new committee was formed. The AGM is between March to May each year.

The organisational structure was re-established at the meeting in 2010 and six strategic objectives agreed upon. It was decided that in the short term, these objectives would be implemented on a national level and in the longer term, each province would be encouraged to set up a branch. The concept was that each branch will have a PiNSA member as a branch co-ordinator but will also include a doctor and a trained immunology nurse. The provincial branches will support and implement the strategic objectives but on a local level, and will report to, and be guided by the national committee.